Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Former hairstylist and part time model turned jewellery designer Caroline Ventura is somewhat of a Renaissance woman. Her beautiful line of handmade jewellery BRVTVS first caught my eye over at Joanna Godard's blog A Cup of Jo and ever since I've been lusting after the double chain link and cleopatra rings. I caught up with Caroline to discuss sawing, soldering and simple and chic jewellery.

Hi Caroline! What inspired you to
start designing jewellery? Did you always want to get into jewellery design?It
was never my intention to become a jewellery designer, but I have always been
in the design field in one form or another. I started originally making pieces for myself because I
couldn’t find jewellery that I actually wanted to wear. I guess I’m pretty
picky when it comes to accessories so I figured that I may as well do it
myself, so I get exactly what I want.
I have a pretty bespoke approach to life.

How would you describe your
aesthetic? I
like things clean, simple, and timeless.

What influences your designs? I like to look toward architecture a lot in my pieces. Simple lines are really appealing to me so being in NYC is a
huge influence in itself. I also
get a lot of inspiration from craftsmen of centuries past. The line has a heavy Roman influence-
I’ve always been fascinated with ancient Rome and have huge respect for the
amount of work it took to create a piece of jewellery back then.

Did you look at anything specifically for this new collection? Since BRVTVS doesn’t have typical seasons that I
design, it is important that each piece connects with the others around it in
some sort of way…pieces that are brand new have to be cohesive with pieces that
I designed a year ago. For some of
the newest pieces, I really wanted to have things that were all about sharp
angles and clean straight lines.

Are you working with any new materials this season? I’ve recently made the switch to 14k gold for certain
components of my pieces. I love
working in precious metal but it was important to me that the line remain in an
affordable price point.

Can you describe the design making process?Most of my pieces
start out as a sketch. Sometimes I
find myself doing really normal things like watching a movie or sitting in a
park and I will see an interesting shape and try to figure out how to translate
that into a piece of jewelry. I
also like designing for certain characters that I make up in my head and create
pieces that I think those girls would want to wear every day

How did you learn your craft? Most of the
skills I learned, I taught myself.
I did take a few classes to learn the basics of jewelry design- sawing,
soldering, polishing, etc. I’ve
always been a do-it-yourself type of person, for me it’s fun experimenting with
different techniques and figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

How would you describe your personal style and how does that manifest
itself in your designs?I love mixing extremes. Masculine and feminine. Hard and soft. I think my pieces have a good balance
of femininity mixing in with more masculine themes like thick hammered bars or
sharp points.

What outside of jewellery has inspired you recently? I’ve been really into cooking lately and I’m
lucky enough to live down the street from an amazing farmer’s market here in
NYC. My favorite thing to do in
the summertime is to wake up early on Saturdays and head over there before it
gets too hot. Most days when I’m
in the studio, I’m daydreaming about what I want to eat for dinner.

What’s your favourite piece of jewellery? I have two.
The first is a ring that I’ve worn on my right ring finger for over 10
years. It was my mother’s high
school class ring that I “borrowed” from her…I don’t know that I’ll ever take
it off. The second is really
beautiful Miriam Haskell cuff that my husband bought me for our first
anniversary. It’s totally
different from the normal stuff I wear. It’s fine silver,
with a few rows of vintage Swarovski.
I had been watching it on eBay for a few weeks and got really sad when
someone else bought it- only to find that someone bought it for me! I think he caught me lusting after it
one day and took matters into his own hands.

Can you describe an average day in the studio? There’s no typical
day- each day is different and I really love that. I get bored quite easily. Every day begins with coffee though. There are some really amazing coffee
houses near my studio that have turned me into a bit of a coffee-snob. I usually work on about five or six
pieces throughout the day, and try to always throw in some time to work on new
designs.

Can
you give us a hint as to what’s coming up next? What projects, both actual and
aspirational, do you have lined up for the future?My husband and I are working on a project together
that should see the light of day come the fall. We design furniture together so there’s always something
interesting going on there. I’m
expanding the studio into a bigger space soon, so I’ll be able to work on a few
other things besides jewellery- painting, ceramics, etc. There’s also a few collaborations lined
up with friends who are designers.
I love working on projects with friends, it’s always super inspiring to
me to see first hand what they’re working on and a huge honor to work beside
them.

Saturday, 14 July 2012

If, like me, you're an avid reader of Emily Weiss'
beauty bible Into
The Gloss, you'll be aware of cult beauty product Olio Lusso. A
staple both backstage and in the medicine cabinets of everyone from Lady Amanda
Harlech and Vanessa Traina to creator herself, stylist and former Harper's
Bazaar editor Linda Rodin, Olio Lusso luxury face oil promises to deliver 100%
natural hydration, resulting in a healthy, luminous glow. Disillusioned
with a market saturated with empty anti-aging claims, Rodin created the product
in her bathroom by blending eleven different essential oils including jasmine,
neroli and apricot known for their calming and nourishing properties. Since its
launch in 2007, Olio Lusso has maintained its place as the (often fickle) beauty
industry’s hero product. Intrigued, I requested some samples to try out.

Initially
I was skeptical - "Won’t an oil make my combination skin break out?” “Can
it really be worth the £96 price tag?” – but having used the product sparingly for
a week now, I’ve been converted. I'm even tempted to try blending my own! After 2 drops massaged into
just cleansed, slightly damp skin once a day, my skin is visibly clearer. Any redness I had has been reduced and my skin has that elusive glow I’ve never experienced with a cream before. As for the luxury price tag -yes, it’s astronomical, but you only need
the tiniest amount (after two weeks use, I’m only at the end of one of the
1.5ml sample bottles) and the dewy glow is definitely worth it!

I’ve always been a firm believer that beauty comes
from the inside out, but if you need a little help along the way, Rodin's Olio
Lusso more than delivers.

Thursday, 12 July 2012

Sorry for the distinct lack of posts, updates coming very soon but in the meantime take a look at a recent interview I did with Christopher Kane at the Scottish Fashion Awards for Dazed and Confused Digital.(Image credit: Christopher Kane S/S 2012 from Style Bistro)